There was that same slipping sensation as he took her hand again. This time, Ari was ready for it. She let the world pass through her fingers as the seconds slowed and everything stilled. Cvareh had that same faraway look on his face, one of brow-furrowing focus. Ari only waited long enough to know he had the magic under control before they were off again.
Just shy of eight minutes had passed when Arianna and Cvareh stepped into Mercury Town. They collapsed once more against a wall in some forsaken storage area packed with crates and barrels. She waited cautiously, until he coughed blood again, before shoving her hand into his mouth. The Dragon was no longer shy. Like a babe to a nipple he latched on, drawing life and magic alike from her veins.
Ari bit the insides of her cheeks, keeping herself focused when her eyes met his again and that same sensation took over. A sensation of seeing him as more than a Dragon, as more than a person—of seeing more than blue, and gold, and orange. It was as if skin and eyes and hair were blending together to make someone with as much will and heart as she possessed herself.
She would never let him imbibe from her again.
Footsteps, faster than a Fenthri’s and closing in, echoed in her ears. Ari ripped her hand from Cvareh’s bloody mouth and quickly hid it behind her back, grabbing a dagger while the marks from his teeth healed.
“Found you.” A mint-skinned Dragon skidded to a stop at the entrance to their alley. He grinned wildly, flashing every one of his teeth.
Ari returned the expression, pushing her goggles over her eyes. Almost nonchalantly, she pulled cabling through her gearbox, clipping the end to a small loop at the end of the hilt of her dagger. “Yes, you did.”
Her blood and half her organs might have been stolen from Dragons, but when Ari moved, it was like they had never belonged to anyone but her. The dagger flew out toward the leafy-colored monster at her mental behest. The Rider jumped, anticipating her attack.
Vaulting through the air, he swiped for her face and neck. Ari ducked and reached for her other dagger, then spun upward, slashing in reply. The gold of her dagger rang out against a bracer over his wrist as he twisted and fell behind her.
Bloody corona.
The Dragon’s skin shone brightly as his magic was transformed into a barrier atop his flesh, keeping out her attacks. The one benefit of him activating a corona was that he could no longer expend mass amounts of energy on anything else. But when it came to removing it… There were only two options when a Dragon activated a corona: wait for it to exhaust on its own, or force it to exhaust with attacks.
Ari wasn’t the most innately patient of women.
Her dagger flew back toward her as the cord retracted. She arced it through the air and it rang harmlessly against the Rider’s shoulder as he continued to advance on her. Ari flipped her grip on her other dagger, crouching for a flurry of small attacks designed to tire her opponent.
With a growl, Cvareh lunged past her. The two Dragons tumbled on the ground, blue and green. They were a jumble of claws and teeth, like two wolves fighting for the alpha position in the pack. There was no regard for etiquette or honor. Only the base desire to dominate.
Cvareh recovered on all fours, his claws scraping against the ground as the two broke apart.
“Cvareh Xin’Ryu Soh.” The Rider’s voice had gone deep and harsh, guttural. A heavy Royuk accent that wasn’t there before bled into his vowels as he spoke. “More like Cvareh Xin.”
Arianna only knew the overview of why titles were important on Nova. She had chosen to study other things than the hierarchy of Dragon nobility and the suffixes attached to every rank. She knew enough to know that it would annoy the Dragon when she’d dropped the ranks.
But Cvareh had clearly been making allowances for her as a Fenthri. When another Dragon chose to do the same, the rage was sudden. He roared and attacked faster than Ari’s eyes could process. Golden blood exploded as Cvareh’s hand plunged into the other man’s chest and straight through the corona her steel had been useless against moments earlier.
The Rider coughed and sputtered, but Cvareh was more ruthless than Arianna had ever imagined—more than she had given the Dragon credit for after their first encounter. His hand closed, twisted, and pulled. In one motion, he ripped out the Rider’s still beating heart, raised it to his mouth, and bit down with a snarl.
The Dragon Rider died instantly, the gaping wound in his chest still oozing gold that glittered and faded in the air. Cvareh stood and threw down the chewed remnants of the heart. “Dan Tam.” He spit on the Rider’s corpse. “All things were not made equal this day.”
As if suddenly remembering she was there, Cvareh turned. This was the creature she had been expecting all along. Golden blood glistened on his face from where he had feasted on the heart of his fallen foe. He stood over the corpse like it was a prize—a trophy that illustrated what he was capable of. He was finally the monster she had been expecting.
But expectations had shifted, and they both looked at each other with new eyes. The Wraith and the Dragon had shared blood. It was a step toward something she hadn’t expected—and certainly didn’t want.
5. Florence